A new blood stabilization method significantly prolongs the lifespan of blood samples for microfluidic sorting and transcriptome profiling of rare circulating tumor cells, living cancer cells carried in the bloodstream. Read more at ScienceNewsline.

A new system designed to study how cavitation bubbles created by ultrasound therapy affect nearby cells shows that attaching microbeads to the cellular membrane could make techniques like sonogenetics or ultrasonic modulation safer and more effective. Read more from Duke University Pratt School of Engineering.

Scientists have designed bacteria to reflect sound waves like submarines. The technology could eventually allow doctors to image therapeutic bacteria in the body using ultrasound. Read more at Caltech News.

NIH researchers have devised a biochemically formulated patch of dissolvable microneedles for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The biochemical formula of mineralized compounds in the patch responds to blood chemistry to manage glucose automatically. In a proof-of-concept study performed with mice, the researchers showed that the chemicals interact in the bloodstream to regulate blood sugar for days at a time.

A study activated genes in human stem cells that initiate biomineralization, a key step in bone formation, according to a science team. Scientists engineered spider web silk combined with silica to activate cell membrane protein receptor integrin. The research will help scientists model intracellular pathways that govern bone formation and efforts to cure diseases such as osteoporosis and calcific aortic valve disease. Read more from the Texas Advanced Computing Center.

Scientists have invented a major new advance in DNA nanotechnology. Dubbed 'single-stranded origami,' their new strategy uses one long, thin noodle-like strand of DNA, or its chemical cousin RNA, that can self-fold -- without even a single knot -- into the largest, most complex structures to date. The strands forming these structures can be made inside living cells, opening up the potential for nanomedicine. Read more form Arizona State University.

Scientists have adapted DNA-PAINT technology to microscopes that are widespread among cell biology laboratories, called confocal microscopes, and that are used by researchers to image whole cells and thicker tissues at lower resolution. They have demonstrated that the method can visualize a variety of different molecules, including combinations of different proteins, RNAs and DNA throughout the entire depth of whole cells at super-resolution. Read more at the Harvard Wyss Institute.

Much as a frame provides structural support for a house and the chassis provides strength and shape for a car, a team of engineers believes they have a way to create the structural framework for growing living tissue using an off-the-shelf 3-D printer. Read more at Penn State News.